


A Place to Call Our Own

by MusicalLuna



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AOU Tag, Avengers Family, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Home Improvement, House Cleaning, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Paint Fights, Team Mom Tony Stark, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-13 16:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10517688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalLuna/pseuds/MusicalLuna
Summary: After their face off with Ultron destroys the tower (again), the Avengers have to find somewhere else to live, and maybe even call their home.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kelslk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelslk/gifts).



> [kelslk:](http://kelslk.tumblr.com/post/117976816908/omggg-i-forgot-i-actually-had-a-dream-last-night)  
> omggg i forgot i actually had a dream last night about the avengers and it was so detailed and happy!!!!! then i woke up and was like oh wait
> 
> GUESS WHAT I DID (i retconned a few things is what i did) spoilers for age of ultron (i guess??)
> 
> MAKE SURE YOU [LOOK AT THE AMAZING ART](http://musicalluna.tumblr.com/post/117989097165/kelslk-paint-fight-yayy-screams) kelslk MADE

The Tower is wrecked (again) after their face off with Ultron.

When they get back, Tony stands on the sidewalk and puts his hands on his hips, looking up at the blown out windows of the upper floors. “Well, this isn’t going to work.”

Steve looks at him. “What are we going to do?”

Tony rubs a hand over his goatee. “Dad had a mansion on Fifth. I’m pretty sure I still own it.”

~ * ~

It turns out he does.

So the six of them troop over to it with a few armfuls of things they’ve scrounged from the wreckage of the Tower’s living quarters with Wanda, Vision, Rhodey, Sam, and Maria in tow, and Pepper and Jane who had headed straight for New York when they’d heard.

Coaxing Bruce to stay has been a full team effort after Wakanda, but he seems willing to admit that he does better in the presence of the Avengers than he did on his own and that’s a powerful incentive.

The mansion has intricately-carved heavy wood doors and apparently they haven’t been opened in awhile because Tony has to put his shoulder into it before they groan open.

Everything inside is still in place, all the furniture carefully covered with white sheets. There’s a fine layer of dust, but the place has obviously been cleaned regularly over the years. It still oozes money to Steve.

Tony seems a little subdued here, his eyes moving around restlessly like he can’t find somewhere to rest them that doesn’t make him uncomfortable. He clears his throat and says, “Kind of a fixer-upper, but probably better than the Tower. Those in agreement say aye.”

He gets nine ayes and a groan from Clint who whines, “I hate cleaning.”

“Everyone hates cleaning,” Tony replies cheerfully. “So shut up, Cinderella, and get to work or you won’t be going to the ball.”

“You don’t have balls,” Clint replies and Steve coughs to cover his laugh.

Tony notices it anyway and his mouth twists—Steve thinks he’s fighting a smile. “You’re gonna stand for this type of language, really, Cap?”

“I sure fucking am,” Steve says and strides forward ahead of Tony to hide his grin at the chorus of whooping and _oooooohs_ that follow him down the hall.

~ * ~

Everyone picks a bedroom and most of the first afternoon is spent cleaning those so they’ll have some place to sleep come nightfall. Sam and Rhodey are kind enough to help out with the washing—there are plenty of bedclothes in the closets, but they’re musty with disuse.

Around nine, a bell rings close to the door to the room Steve has picked for himself and he heads down to the main floor, bumping hips with Natasha when he meets her in the hall.  She’s been brittle since Wanda got in their heads, but here and now she’s smiling, at least a little, and he’s glad to see it.

The others are emerging as well, Thor with smudges on his cheeks and kiss-swollen lips that match Jane’s. Steve is happy for them, but it's impossible not to think of Peggy's red smile and the warm curve of her waist under his hand. He wishes they'd gotten a chance to look like that.

Wanda is sticking close to Clint. She still seems leery of the rest of them, but Steve thinks that given time, she’ll come around.

Tony beams at them all a little too hard when they all finally make it to the dining room. “I give you pizza!” he says, waving a hand at the table, which is, as promised, covered in pizzas. Steve counts fourteen, in every configuration imaginable.

“Hey, _I_ give you pizza,” Rhodey cuts in. “I’m the one who ordered them.”

“Oh, god, _food_ ,” Bruce moans, and lurches for the pile of paper plates.

They all dive in with vigor and for awhile, the dining room is quiet, but for the sound of shuffling plates and chewing.

Tony, of course, is the one who breaks it. He’s curled up around Pepper, who’s nibbling on bite-sized pieces of pizza, her eyes on a tablet propped on the table, and one hand curled around the back of Tony’s neck. “So?” he asks. “What do you guys think? Can we make it livable?”

“I like it,” Natasha says. “Clint and I found rooms that share a bathroom.”

“Ooh, the Coupling Suite, nice.”

Thor perks up. “Did you say coupling? Jane, why did we not choose that room?”

Rhodey barks a laugh and Tony says, “No—not that kind of coupling big guy. Dad named all the rooms with engineering terms. It’s a device used to—”

“Uh huh, sure it is,” Sam drawls and Tony throws him a glare.

“It’s because the bathroom acts as a coupling!” Tony insists.

“Nobody’s judging you, Tony,” Steve says mildly. “If you want to have a room called the Sex Suite that’s your business.”

Pepper dissolves into laughter and the rest of the table quickly follows. Steve’s face is hot with a blush, but it’s worth it to see everyone laughing, the mix of amusement and exasperated annoyance on Tony’s face.

“It’s a good fit,” Clint says later, “plenty of room, but close, too. Could use a few tweaks though. It’s awful dark with all the wood. We can brighten it up with some lamps and things—some paint.”

Everyone’s staring by the time he finishes and he looks around, says, “What? I like DIY, okay? Is that a crime?”

“Only if you watch HGTV,” Tony retorts.

Clint blushes and deigns not to answer.

Tony shrugs, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “All right, let’s do it. Let’s slap some spackle on the place and make her ours.”

“Hear hear,” Steve says, lifting his beer and the others follow suit.

~ * ~

They’re up till long after midnight talking and making plans.

Clint—being the master decorator and all—winds up being the one sent to the hardware store to get the paint. Wanda, Bruce and Thor tag along while the rest of them get the place prepped.

The paint gang returns with gallons and gallons of paint in six colors, Clint declaring that if the place is going to have any cohesion they can’t have more than that.

There’s an intercom system wired throughout the mansion and Sam rigs it so he can play music through it, yelling at anyone who gets near his laptop to back away from the tunes, he’s got this.

It’s as they’re getting to work that Tony decides he wants coffee. He goes around and takes orders and when he gets around to Steve, Steve pulls him aside.

“What’s up, Cap?” he asks, voice carefully light.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Tony shifts, his eyes slipping away. “What? Yeah, of course I am. We’re a team. The team needs a place to go.”

Steve hesitates because he doesn’t want to push Tony’s buttons, but he also wants him to be as happy as the rest of them. “It’s just—you don’t seem all that comfortable here.”

One of Tony’s eyes closes, his face twisting up in a grimace. “You noticed that, huh?” He rubs at his forehead with the pad of one thumb and then smiles crookedly. “It’s fine. I have a lot of memories here is all.”

Steve feels his face fall. “And we’re stepping all over them.”

“No,” Tony says quickly and then, “Well, yeah, but not in a bad way. It’ll make it easier.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asks, and puts a hand on Tony’s shoulder, trying to make him understand that he doesn’t have to do this for them. “We’re changing the place you grew up in, that can’t be easy.”

Tony smiles, not so forced this time. “I’m sure.” He pokes Steve in the sternum. “I hear you’re looking for a home and I’ve got a perfectly good one. Win-win.”

Steve ducks his head, a pleased flush working up his throat. “That's—” A lump catches in his throat. “Thank you, Tony.”

Tony squeezes his arm. “You deserve it. And if this place doesn’t work out, we’ll try again until you find what you’re looking for. Miami, Dallas, Vegas, we’ll try ‘em all.” He tilts his head back, eyes twinkling with mischief. “If we have to we’ll find a place in Jersey.”

Steve laughs, covering the hand on his arm and squeezing, his throat too tight too speak.

“Now,” Tony says, voice gentle, “you want a frappuccino or what?”

All Steve can do is nod.

~ * ~

He’s painting his room with long strokes of the roller when Natasha calls, “Hey, Steve.”

Steve turns, and he doesn’t know what he’s expecting, but it’s not to have Natasha flick red paint in his face.  She grins at him, bright and wide and playful, and Steve stares back at her for a beat and then lunges, swiping the blue-covered roller right up her retreating back. She shrieks with laughter, racing out into the hallway. “Get back here, Romanova!” he yells and she shouts back, “Come and get me, grandpa!”

He hauls ass after her, the heads of the other Avengers poking out of doorways as they race past.

Natasha’s fast, but she’s no match for Steve at a full-tilt run and she screams when he gets his arm around her waist and swings her off her feet, then starts howling with laughter. “ _Clint!_ ” she hollers, “Clint, back me up!”

“Oh, no,” Clint says, leaning on the doorjamb to his room with a smirk, “you made this bed, Nat, you lie in it.”

“Nooo,” she wails again, but she’s still laughing when Steve passes the roller down her cheek, coating the whole left side of her face in blue before he lets her down. It gets in her hair, strands of blue sticking out bright against the red. She gets her revenge by smushing one red-coated hand to his cheek.

Tony comes up the stairs just then, setting aside the trays of coffees when he sees them, eyebrows climbing up his forehead. “Are we having fun?”

Without thinking too hard, Steve reaches down and grabs the nearest open can of paint—a nice magenta sort of color. Tony’s eyes go wide as he starts to swing it forward, and he ducks, arm coming up to cover his face.

“What the FUCK?!” he shouts as he’s drenched in that pretty magenta color.

He stares, dumbfounded at Steve when he comes back up, swiping the back of his arm across his face to keep the color out of his eyes. It mats down his hair, drips down his jaw past his ear, dribbles down his chest, and Tony just stares intensely back at him—Steve’s heart starts to sink, thinking he’s made a dire misstep.

Then Tony’s eyes narrow. “Oh, it is on, Rogers.”

Steve breaks into a shit-eating grin and that’s when Natasha smacks his ass. He jolts and winds up driving himself right into Tony’s arms, paint smearing up the side of his neck as Tony insinuates himself around him.

“PAINT FIGHT!” Sam shouts gleefully and Rhodey groans, “Oh, hell no.”

Things dissolve into chaos from there.

~ * ~

By the time the paint fight is over, Bruce is green (painted—Thor dumped a tray over his head), Natasha has left red hand prints on every single person’s ass, and there’s paint everywhere in the halls of the mansion. On the ceiling– _everywhere_.

They all wind up collapsing in a breathless heap in the sitting room of Bruce’s chosen bedroom, worn out, but smiling.

“Oh my god,” Tony groans, “we’re going to have to get this professionally cleaned.”

“Or we could leave it,” Steve suggests.

Tony lifts his head from Pepper’s lap to stare. “It looks like an army of My Little Ponies were murdered out there.”

“I agree with Steve,” Natasha says. “Gives the place some personality.”

“Person—” Tony breaks down laughing and keeps at it until tears are leaking from the corners of his eyes.

“It is unlike anywhere I have ever lived,” Thor agrees. “I like it.”

Bruce’s mouth is pulling up in a reluctant smile. “You want us to live in a place that looks like a couple hundred kindergartners got loose?”

“Man, kindergartners couldn’t do what we just did,” Sam says. “I love it. I vote to keep it.”

Bruce shrugs, smiling all out now. “I’m in.”

“Hell yeah,” Clint says, grinning lazily from where he’s sprawled across a still-covered loveseat.

“Oh my god,” Maria says, like she can’t believe what she’s gotten herself into. “Yeah, why not.”

Wanda looks more relaxed than she has since they arrived—she’d gotten in a few real good volleys using those powers of hers and has a nice streak of red paint over her cheek from where Natasha had managed to get the better of her.

The Vision shakes his head from where he’s seated delicately on one of the single chairs. He’s still clean, but he looks amused. “I admit I don’t understand the desire, but I support what makes you happy.”

“Well, I guess that decides it then. Pep?”

“Oh, as if I could stop you lunatics,” she says, smiling down at him.

“All I’ve gotta say is thank god I don’t have to live here,” Rhodey says and gets a pillow thrown at his head.

Tony drags himself upright. “All right, I’m starved. Chinese? Chinese? Yes, good, great. I’m gonna order a couple of everything.”

He’s covered in paint of various colors, half his face pink with bits of blue, green, and purple peeking out here and there over the rest of his body. They all look that way, their bare feet brown on the bottom from running through splatters of all the colors. Thor’s hair is streaked green and Clint has two purple lines angling out from his nostrils.

Steve is loose and relaxed and, he realizes with surprise—happy.

 _Yeah_ , he thinks, looking around at his teammates and friends and the riot of color in the hallway outside the door. _I could call this home_.


End file.
